Ted Cruz wins reelection over Beto O’Rourke

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz locked in a second term Tuesday by defeating Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, seeing off Democrats’ most aggressive attempt in decades to win a statewide office in Texas.

Cruz had 51 percent of the vote to 49 percent for O’Rourke when three networks called the race with less than a quarter of the precincts reporting.

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Texas hasn’t had a Democratic senator since 1994, but O’Rourke — a third-term congressman who speaks fluent Spanish — ran an energetic and well-funded campaign that captured attention from Democrats nationally. A progressive Democrat from El Paso, O’Rourke ran hard on health care, immigration and education funding. And he raised over $70 million by mid-October, largely from small donations, while touring the state’s rural counties and large population centers alike ginning up enthusiasm.

O’Rourke’s campaign forced Cruz, who feuded with fellow Republicans for long stretches of his first term, to run hard for a second six-year term. He attacked O’Rourke as a liberal out of step with Texas’ traditional conservatism on immigration, drugs and a host of other issues.

And in a sign of a changing Cruz, his campaign also touted bipartisan work bringing home federal aid after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas.

Cruz also leaned on help from the rest of the Republican Party, including President Donald Trump, whom Cruz famously called a “pathological liar” and “utterly amoral” during the 2016 presidential primaries. In July, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrickurged White House officials to airdrop the president into the Lone Star State to keep O’Rourke at bay, and Trump came to the state to rally voters for Cruz in October, ditching the “Lyin’ Ted” moniker he had deployed during the primary fight and instead labeling Cruz “Beautiful Ted.”